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Gun Control - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org
GUN CONTROL
Should More Gun Control Laws Be Enacted?
Last updated on: 8/7/2020 | Author: ProCon.org
The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns, which is the highest
total and per capita number in the world. 22% of Americans own one or more guns (35% of men and
12% of women). America’s pervasive gun culture stems in part from its colonial history,
revolutionary roots, frontier expansion, and the Second Amendment, which states: “A well regulated
militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed.”
Proponents of more gun control laws state that the Second Amendment was intended for militias;
that gun violence would be reduced; that gun restrictions have always existed; and that a majority of
Americans, including gun owners, support new gun restrictions.
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Opponents say that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to own guns; that guns are
needed for self-defense from threats ranging from local criminals to foreign invaders; and that gun
ownership deters crime rather than causes more crime. Read more background…
Pro & Con Arguments
Pro 1
Con 1
The Second Amendment is not an
unlimited right to own guns.
The Second Amendment of the US
Constitution protects individual gun
ownership.
In the June 26, 2008 District of Columbia et al.
v. Heller US Supreme Court majority opinion,
Justice Antonin Scalia, LLB, wrote, “Like most
The Second Amendment of the US
Constitution reads, “A well regulated militia,
rights, the right secured by the Second
Amendment is not unlimited… nothing in our
opinion should be taken to cast doubt on
longstanding prohibitions on the possession
of rearms by felons and the mentally ill, or
laws forbidding the carrying of rearms in
being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms,
shall not be infringed.” Gun ownership is an
American tradition older than the country itself
and is protected by the Second Amendment;
more gun control laws would infringe upon the
sensitive places such as schools and
government buildings, or laws imposing
conditions and quali cations on the
commercial sale of arms.” [3] On June 9, 2016
the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 7-4
that “[t]he right of the general public to carry a
concealed rearm in public is not, and never
right to bear arms. Justice Antonin Scalia, LLB,
in the June 26, 2008 District of Columbia et al.
v. Heller US Supreme Court majority opinion
syllabus stated, “The Second Amendment
protects an individual right to possess a
rearm unconnected with service in a militia,
and to use that arm for traditionally lawful
has been, protected by the Second
Amendment,” thus upholding a law requiring a
permitting process and “good cause” for
concealed carry licenses in California. [145][146]
A 2018 study found that 91% of the 1,153
court cases with claims stating a government
action or law violates the Second Amendment
purposes, such as self-defense within the
home.” [3] The McDonald v. City of Chicago
(2010) ruling also stated that the Second
Amendment is an individual right. [51]
Lawrence Hunter, Chairman of Revolution PAC,
stated, “The Founders understood that the
right to own and bear laws is as fundamental
between the 2008 DC v. Heller decision and
Feb. 1, 2016 failed. [157]
and as essential to maintaining liberty as are
the rights of free speech, a free press, freedom
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Pro 2
More gun control laws would reduce
gun deaths.
There were 572,537 total gun deaths between
1999 and 2016: 336,579 suicides (58.8% of
total gun deaths); 213,175 homicides (37.2%);
and 11,428 unintentional deaths (2.0%). [162]
Guns were the leading cause of death by
homicide (67.7% of all homicides) and by
suicide (51.8% of all suicides). [162] A study in
the New England Journal of Medicine found
that rearms were the second leading cause
of deaths for children, responsible for 15% of
child deaths compared to 20% in motor
vehicle crashes. [30] A study published in the
American Journal of Public Health found that
“legal purchase of a handgun appears to be
associated with a long-lasting increased risk
of violent death” [6] According to a Mar. 10,
2016 Lancet study, implementing federal
universal background checks could reduce
rearm deaths by a projected 56.9%;
background checks for ammunition purchases
could reduce deaths by a projected 80.7%; and
gun identi cation requirements could reduce
deaths by a projected 82.5%. [148] Gun
licensing laws were associated with a 14%
decrease in rearm homicides, while increases
in rearm homicides were seen in places with
right-to-carry and stand-your ground-laws.[158]
[160]
of religion and the other protections against
government encroachments on liberty
delineated in the Bill of Rights.” [52]
Con 2
Gun control laws do not deter crime;
gun ownership deters crime.
A study in Applied Economics Letters found
that “assault weapons bans did not
signi cantly affect murder rates at the state
level” and “states with restrictions on the
carrying of concealed weapons had higher
gun-related murders.” [103] While gun
ownership doubled in the twentieth century,
the murder rate decreased. [53] John R. Lott,
Jr., PhD, author of More Guns, Less Crime:
Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws,
stated, “States with the largest increases in
gun ownership also have the largest drops in
violent crimes… The effect on ‘shall-issue’
[concealed gun] laws on these crimes [where
two or more people were killed] has been
dramatic. When states passed these laws, the
number of multiple-victim shootings declined
by 84 percent. Deaths from these shootings
plummeted on average by 90 percent and
injuries by 82 percent.” [54] More than twothirds of gun owners cite protection as a major
reason for owning a gun. [55] Journalist John
Stossel explained, “Criminals don’t obey the
law… Without the fear of retaliation from
victims who might be packing heat, criminals
in possession of these [illegal] weapons now
have a much easier job… As the saying goes,
‘If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have
guns.'” [56]
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Pro 3
High-capacity magazines should be
banned because they too often turn
murder into mass murder.
A Mother Jones investigation found that highcapacity magazines were used in at least 50%
of the 62 mass shootings between 1982 and
2012. [7] When high-capacity magazines were
used in mass shootings, the death rate rose
63% and the injury rate rose 156%. [8] David H.
Chipman, Senior Vice President of Public
Safety for ShotSpotter and former Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
(ATF) agent, stated that a high-capacity
magazine “turns a killer into a killing machine.”
Some gang members use high-capacity
magazines, such as 30 rounds or even 90
[7]
rounds, to compensate for lack of accuracy
and maximize the chance to harm. [9]
According to a Feb. 2019 NPR poll, 65% of
Americans believed banning high-capacity
magazines would reduce gun violence. [165]
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Pro 4
Con 3
More gun control laws are needed to
protect women from domestic
abusers and stalkers.
Gun control laws infringe upon the
right to self-defense and deny people a
sense of safety.
Five women are murdered with guns every day
in the United States. [10] A woman’s risk of
According to the National Ri e Association
(NRA), guns are used for self-defense 2.5
being murdered increases 500% if a gun is
present during a domestic dispute. [11] During
million times a year. [57] The police cannot
protect everyone all of the time. 61% of men
the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 5,364 US
soldiers were killed in action between Oct. 7,
and 56% of women surveyed by Pew Research
said that stricter gun laws would “make it
2001 and Jan. 28, 2015; between 2001 and
more di cult for people to protect their homes
2012 6,410 women were killed with a gun by
an intimate partner in the United States. [10][12]
and families.” [58] Nelson Lund, JD, PhD,
Professor at George Mason University School
A 2003 study of 23 populous high-income
countries found that 86% of women killed by
of Law, stated, “The right to self-defense and
to the means of defending oneself is a basic
rearms were in the United States and
American women are 11.4 times more likely to
natural right that grows out of the right to life”
and “many [gun control laws] interfere with the
be the victims of gun homicides [13] 57% of
ability of law-abiding citizens to defend
mass shootings involved domestic violence.
[11][14] For example, the 2011 mass shooting
themselves against violent criminals.” [59]
Constitutions in 37 US states protect the right
at a Seal Beach, CA hair salon reportedly
began because of the shooter’s custody battle
to bear arms for self-defense, most with
explicit language such as Alabama’s: “every
with his ex-wife who was a hair stylist at the
salon. [11][8] 31 states do not ban convicted
citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of
himself and the state.” [60][61] Wayne LaPierre,
misdemeanor stalkers from owning guns and
Executive Vice President of the NRA, stated,
41 states do not force convicted domestic
abusers from relinquishing guns they already
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun
is a good guy with a gun.” [62] A May 9, 2013
own. [10][14] 76% of women murdered and 85%
of women who survived a murder attempt by
48% of convicted felons surveyed admitted
that they avoided committing crimes when
an intimate partner were stalked in the year
before the murder or murder attempt. [15]
they knew the victim was armed with a gun.
[63] Pew Foundation report found that 79% of
male gun owners and 80% of female gun
owners said owning a gun made them feel
safer and 64% of people living in a home in
which someone else owns a gun felt safer. [58]
Even Senator Dianne Feinstein, a gun control
advocate, carried a concealed gun when her
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Pro 5
Guns are rarely used in self-defense.
life was threatened and her home attacked by
the New World Liberation Front in the 1970s.
[64]
Of the 29,618,300 violent crimes committed
between 2007 and 2011, 0.79% of victims
(235,700) protected themselves with a threat
of use or use of a rearm, the least-employed
protective behavior. [16] In 2010 there were 230
“justi able homicides” in which a private
citizen used a rearm to kill a felon, compared
to 8,275 criminal gun homicides (or, 36
criminal homicides for every “justi able
homicide”). [17] Of the 84,495,500 property
crimes committed between 2007 and 2011,
0.12% of victims (103,000) protected
themselves with a threat of use or use of a
rearm. [16]
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Pro 6
Con 4
Legally owned guns are frequently
stolen and used by criminals.
Gun control laws, especially those that
try to ban “assault weapons,” infringe
upon the right to own guns for hunting
and sport.
A June 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report
states that “[a]lmost all guns used in criminal
acts enter circulation via initial legal
In 2011, there were 13.7 million hunters 16
transaction.” [18] Between 2005 and 2010, 1.4
million guns were stolen from US homes
during property crimes (including burglary and
car theft), a yearly average of 232,400. [19] Ian
years old or older in the United States, and
they spent $7.7 billion on guns, sights,
ammunition, and other hunting equipment. [65]
[66] High-powered semiautomatic ri es and
Ayres, JD, PhD, and John J. Donohue, JD, PhD,
Professors of Law at Yale Law School and
Stanford Law School respectively, state, “with
shotguns are used to hunt and in target
shooting tournaments each year. [67]
According to the National Shooting Sports
guns being a product that can be easily carried
away and quickly sold at a relatively high
fraction of the initial cost, the presence of
more guns can actually serve as a stimulus to
Foundation, “So-called ‘Assault weapons’ are
more often than not less powerful than other
hunting ri es. The term ‘assault weapon’ was
conjured up by anti-gun legislators to scare
burglary and theft. Even if the gun owner had a
permit to carry a concealed weapon and
would never use it in furtherance of a crime, is
voters into thinking these rearms are
something out of a horror movie… [T]he Colt
AR-15 and Spring eld M1A, both labeled
it likely that the same can be said for the
burglar who steals the gun?” [20]
‘assault weapons,’ are the ri es most used for
marksmanship competitions in the United
States. And their cartridges are standard
hunting calibers, useful for game up to and
including deer.” [68] According to a Feb. 2013
Pew Research report, 32% of gun owners
owned guns for hunting and 7% owned guns
for target or sport shooting. [58]
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Pro 7
Con 5
Gun control laws would reduce the
societal costs associated with gun
violence.
Gun control laws will not prevent
criminals from obtaining guns or
breaking laws.
The more than 100,000 people shot in the
United States each year generate emergency
room and hospital charges of nearly $3 billion.
[163] A study in the American Journal of Public
Of 62 mass shootings in the United States
between 1982 and 2012, 49 of the shooters
used legally obtained guns. Collectively, 143
guns were possessed by the killers with about
Health estimated that hospitalizations for
rearm-related injuries cost Medicaid and
Medicare $2.7 billion over nine years. [21] A
study in the American Journal of Public Health
estimated that hospitalizations for rearmrelated injuries cost Medicaid and Medicare
$2.7 billion over nine years. [22] 84% of those
injured by rearms are uninsured, leaving
taxpayers responsible for most of those bills
through programs like Medicaid. [23][24][25][26]
According to the World Health Organization
(WHO), the costs of gun violence can include
legal services, medical costs, perpetrator
control, policing, incarceration, foster care,
private security, lost earnings and time, life
insurance, productivity, tourism, and
psychological costs (pain and suffering),
among others. [25] Homicide rates doubling
has been associated with a 12.5% decline in
property values. [25]
75% obtained legally. [69] A Secret Service
analysis found that of 24 mass shootings in
2019 at least 10 (42%) involved illegally
possessed guns. [176] John R. Lott, Jr., PhD,
gun rights activist, stated, “The problem with
such [gun control] laws is that they take away
guns from law-abiding citizens, while would-be
criminals ignore them.” [70] According to a
Bureau of Justice Statistics May 2013 report,
37.4% of state prison inmates who “used,
carried, or possessed a rearm when they
committed the crime for which they were
serving a prison sentence” obtained the gun
from a family member or friend. [16] Despite
Chicago’s ban on gun shops, shooting ranges,
assault weapons, and high capacity
magazines, in 2014 Chicago had 2,089
shooting victims including at least 390
murders. [71][72][73] Approximately 50,000 guns
were recovered by police in Chicago between
2001 and Mar. 2012. The guns came from all
50 states, and more than half came from
outside of Illinois. [74]
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Pro 8
Con 6
A majority of adults, including gun
owners, support common sense gun
control such as background checks,
bans on assault weapons, and bans on
high-capacity magazines.
Gun control laws give too much power
to the government and may result in
government tyranny and the
government taking away all guns from
citizens.
According to a Feb. 20, 2018 Quinnipiac Poll,
97% of American voters and 97% of gun
owners support universal background checks.
57% of people surveyed by Pew Research in
Feb. 2013 said that gun control laws would
“give too much power to the government over
67% support a nationwide ban on assault
weapons, and 83% support mandatory waiting
periods for gun purchases. [155] As much as
40% of all gun sales are undocumented private
the people.” [58] The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre
stated, “if you look at why our Founding
Fathers put it [the Second Amendment] there,
they had lived under the tyranny of King
party gun sales that do not require a
background check (aka the “gun show
loophole”). [28] 53% of all adults surveyed
George and they wanted to make sure that
these free people in this new country would
never be subjugated again and have to live
approve of high-capacity magazine bans. [27]
89% of adults with a gun in the home approve
of laws to prevent the purchase of guns by the
mentally ill, and 82% approve of banning gun
under tyranny.” [75] Alex Jones, radio host, in a
Jan 7, 2013 interview with Piers Morgan,
stated, “The Second Amendment isn’t there for
duck hunting, it’s there to protect us from
sales to people on no- y lists. [27] 77% of
Americans support requiring a license to
purchase a gun. [165] Don Macalady, member
tyrannical government and street thugs… 1776
will commence again if you try to take our
rearms!” [76]
of Hunters against Gun Violence, stated, “As a
hunter and someone who has owned guns
since I was a young boy, I believe that
commonsense gun legislation makes us all
safer. Background checks prevent criminals
and other dangerous people from getting
guns.” [29]
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Pro 9
Con 7
More gun control leads to fewer
suicides.
Gun control laws such as background
checks and micro-stamping are an
invasion of privacy.
Between 1999 and 2013 there were 270,237
rearm suicides in the United States,
accounting for about 52% of all suicides
during those years. [4] When US gun ownership
Background checks would require government
databases that keep personal individual
information on gun owners, including name,
goes down, overall suicide rates drop;
meanwhile, each 10 percentage-point increase
in gun ownership is linked to a 26.9% increase
addresses, mental health history, criminal
records, and more. The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) worried that Senator
in the youth suicide rate. [31][164] Female rsttime rearm owners were 35 times more likely
to commit suicide within 12 years of buying
the gun compared to women who did not own
Harry Reid’s 2013 proposed background check
legislation (the bill failed 54-46) would have
allowed the government to keep databases of
gun purchases inde nitely, creating a “worry
guns; male rst-time rearm owners were
about eight times more likely to do so. [171]
[172] Firearm-related suicides accounted for
that you’re going to see searches of the
databases and an expansion for purposes that
were not intended when the information was
61% of the gun deaths in the United States
between 2000 and 2010. [18] Researchers
found that a “general barrier to rearm access
created through state regulation can have a
collected.” [77][78] Micro-stamping similarly
requires a database of gun owners and the
codes their personal guns would stamp on
cartridge cases. [79] Senators Rand Paul (R-
signi cant deterrent effect on male suicide
rates in the United States. Permit
requirements and bans on sales to minors
were the most effective of the regulations
KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX)
wrote that they would oppose any legislation
that infringes “on the American people’s
constitutional right to bear arms, or on their
analyzed.” [32] In Indiana and Connecticut, after
“red ag” laws to remove guns from people
who may pose a threat were enacted, gun
ability to exercise this right without being
subjected to government surveillance.” [80]
suicides decreased by 7.5% and 13.7%
respectively, while suicides by other means did
not decrease during the same time. [158][159] A
person who wants to kill him/herself is
unlikely to commit suicide with poison or a
knife when a gun is unavailable. [33]
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Con 8
More gun control is unnecessary
because relatively few people are
killed by guns.
According to the CDC’s “Leading Causes of
Death Reports,” between 1999 and 2013,
Americans were 21.5 times more likely to die
of heart disease (9,691,733 deaths); 18.7
times more likely to die of malignant tumors
(8,458,868 deaths); and 2.4 times more likely
to die of diabetes or 2.3 times more likely to
die of Alzheimer’s (1,080,298 and 1,053,207
respectively) than to die from a rearm
(whether by accident, homicide, or suicide). [4]
The u and related pneumonia (875,143
deaths); tra c accidents (594,280 deaths);
and poisoning whether via accident, homicide,
or suicide (475,907 deaths) all killed more
people between 1999 and 2013 than rearms.
Firearms were the 12th leading cause of
deaths for all deaths between 1999 and 2013,
responsible for 1.3% of deaths with 464,033
[4]
deaths. [4] Internationally, the claim that the
United States has a major problem with
rearm homicide is exaggerated. The United
States is ranked 28 in international homicide
rates with 2.97 gun murders per 100,000
people in 2012. [89]
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Pro 10
Con 9
Enacting gun control laws such as
mandatory safety features would
reduce the number of accidental gun
deaths.
Gun control laws and lower gun
ownership rates do not prevent
suicides.
Approximately 50% of unintentional fatal
shootings were self-in icted; and most
unintentional rearm deaths were caused by
Lithuania has one of the world’s lowest gun
ownership rates (0.7 guns per 100 people) but
its suicide rate (by any method) was 45.06 per
100,000 people in 1999, the highest suicide
friends or family members. [18][4] According to
the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and
the National Physicians Alliance, states with
the highest concentration of guns have nine
times the amount of accidental gun deaths
and “89% of unintentional shooting deaths of
children occur in the home—and most of these
rate among 71 countries with available
information. [44] Japan has a low gun
ownership rate at 0.6 guns per 100 people and
a high suicide rate of 18.41 suicides per
100,000 people in 1997 (ranking it 11 out of 71
countries). [44][45] South Korea has a low gun
ownership rate (1.1 guns per 100 people) but
deaths occur when children are playing with a
loaded gun in their parents’ absence.” [34] The
US General Accountability O ce (GAO)
estimated that 31% of total accidental
shooting deaths could have been prevented by
installing safety devices on guns: 100% of
deaths per year in which a child under 6 years
has a high rate of suicide and the highest rate
of gun suicides (12.63 per 100,000 people in
1997). [44][45] By contrast the United States
has the 26th highest suicide rate (12.3
suicides per 100,000 people in 2011) and the
highest gun ownership rate (88.8 guns per 100
people). [44][45] Jim Barrett, author for
old shoots and kills him/herself or another
child could be prevented by automatic childproof safety locks; and 23% of accidental
shooting deaths by adolescents and adults per
year could be prevented by loading indicators
showing when a bullet was in the chamber
ready to be red. [35] Marjorie San lippo, PhD,
TheTruthAboutGuns.com, stated, “the theory
that the restriction or elimination of guns
would have a positive effect on the overall
suicide rate in the U.S. does not hold up under
scrutiny.” [81]
Professor of Psychology at Eckerd College
who has researched children’s behavior
around guns, stated, “We put gates around
swimming pools to keep children from
drowning. We put safety caps on medications
to keep children from poisoning themselves…
[B]ecause children are naturally curious and
impulsive, and because we have shown time
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and again that we cannot ‘gun-proof’ them
with education, we have a responsibility to
keep guns out of the hands of children.” [36]
Pro 11
The presence of a gun makes a
con ict more likely to become violent.
The FBI found that in 2013 arguments (such
as romantic triangles, brawls fueled by alcohol
or drugs, and arguments over money) resulted
in 1,962 gun deaths (59.9% of the total). [37] A
June 1985 study published in the American
Journal of Public Health found that “the
weapons used [in altercations]… were those
closest at hand.” [38] An editorial published in
the June 1985 American Journal of Public
Health noted, “gun-in icted deaths [often]
ensue from impromptu arguments and ghts;
in the US, two-thirds of the 7,900 deaths in
1981 involving arguments and brawls were
caused by guns.” [39] A 1993 study published
in The New England Journal of Medicine
found that “[r]ather than confer protection,
guns kept in the home are associated with an
increase in the risk of homicide by a family
member or intimate acquaintance.” [40]
Con 10
More gun control is not needed;
education about guns and gun safety
is needed to prevent accidental gun
deaths.
95% of all US gun owners believe that children
should learn about gun safety. [154] Guns don’t
kill people; people kill people. And people need
more gun education and mental illness
screening to prevent massacres.The Sporting
Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’
Institute, Inc (SAAMI), stated, “Whether in the
eld, at the range or in the home, a responsible
and knowledgeable gun owner is rarely
involved in a rearms accident of any kind.”
[82] Heidi Cifelli, Former Program Manager of
the NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program,
stated, “Gun education is the best way to save
young lives.” [83] The NRA states that the Eddie
Eagle program is not meant to “teach whether
guns are good or bad, but rather to promote
the protection and safety of children… Like
swimming pools, electrical outlets,
matchbooks, and household poison, they’re
[guns] treated simply as a fact of everyday
life.” [84] According to Kyle Wintersteen,
Managing Editor of Guns and Ammo, studies
show that “children taught about rearms and
their legitimate uses by family members have
much lower rates of delinquency than children
in households without guns” and “children
introduced to guns associate them with
freedom, security, and recreation—not
violence.” [85]
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Pro 12
Con 11
Armed civilians are unlikely to stop
crimes and are more likely to make
dangerous situations, including mass
shootings, more deadly.
Gun control laws would prevent
citizens from protecting themselves
from foreign invaders.
None of the 62 mass shootings between 1982
and 2012 was stopped by an armed civilian.
[41] Gun rights activists regularly state that a
2002 mass shooting at the Appalachian
School of Law in Virginia was stopped by
armed students, but those students were
current and former law enforcement o cers
and the killer was out of bullets when
subdued. [41] Other mass shootings often held
up as examples of armed citizens being able
to stop mass shootings involved law
enforcement or military personnel and/or the
shooter had stopped shooting before being
subdued, such as a 1997 high school shooting
in Pearl, MS; a 1998 middle school dance
shooting in Edinboro, PA; a 2007 church
shooting in Colorado Springs, CO; and a 2008
bar shooting in Winnemucca, NV. [42] Jeffrey
Voccola, Assistant Professor of Writing at
Kutztown University, notes, “The average gun
The Libertarian Party stated, “A responsible,
well-armed and trained citizenry is the best
protection against domestic crime and the
threat of foreign invasion.” [86] Counsel for the
NRA stated, “It is evident that the framers of
the Constitution did not intend to limit the right
to keep and bear arms to a formal military
body or organized militia, but intended to
provide for an ‘unorganized’ armed citizenry
prepared to assist in the common defense
against a foreign invader or a domestic tyrant.”
[87] Marco Rubio (R-FL), US Senator, speaking
about gun control laws during his 2016
presidential campaign, stated, “If God forbid,
ISIS visits our life, our neighborhood, our
school, any part of us, the last thing standing,
the last line of defense could very well be our
ability to protect ourselves.” [149]
owner, no matter how responsible, is not
trained in law enforcement or on how to
handle life-threatening situations, so in most
cases, if a threat occurs, increasing the
number of guns only creates a more volatile
and dangerous situation.” [43]
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Pro 13
Con 12
Countries with restrictive gun control
laws have lower gun homicide and
suicide rates than the United States.
Strict gun control laws do not work in
Mexico, and will not work in the United
States.
Both Switzerland and Finland require gun
owners to acquire licenses and pass
background checks that include mental and
criminal records, among other restrictions and
requirements. [44] In 2007 Switzerland ranked
Mexico has some of the strictest gun control
laws in the world and yet, in 2012, Mexico had
11,309 gun murders (9.97 gun homicides per
100,000 people) compared to the United
States that had 9,146 gun homicides (2.97 per
number 3 in international gun ownership rates
with 45.7 guns per 100 people (about
3,400,000 guns total). [45] In 2009 Switzerland
had 24 gun homicides (0.31 deaths per
100,000 people) and 253 gun suicides (3.29
deaths per 100,000 people). [44] Finland
ranked fourth in international gun ownership
100,000 people). [88][89]. The country has only
one legal gun store (the Directorate of Arms
and Munitions Sales), compared to at least
63,709 legal gun stores and pawn shops in the
United States as of Feb. 10, 2014. [90][91]
Mexico’s gun store is on a secure military base
and customers must present a valid ID, go
rates with 45.3 guns per 100 people (about
2,400,000 guns total). [45] In 2007 Finland had
23 (0.43 deaths per 100,000 people) gun
homicides and 172 gun suicides (4.19 deaths
per 100,000 people). [44] The United States,
categorized as having “permissive” rearm
regulation by GunPolicy.org, ranked rst in
through a metal detector, and turn over
cellphones and cameras to guards. To actually
buy a gun, customers have to show proof of
honest income, provide references, pass a
criminal background check, prove any military
duties were completed with honor, and be
ngerprinted and photographed. If allowed to
international gun ownership rates with 88.8
guns per 100 people (about 270,000,000 guns
total). [44][45] In 2007 the United States had
12,632 gun homicides (4.19 deaths per
100,000 people) and 17,352 gun suicides
(5.76 deaths per 100,000 people). [44][4]
Harvard professor David Hemenway, PhD,
purchase a gun, the customer may buy only
one gun (choosing from only .38 caliber
pistols or lower) and one box of bullets. [90][92]
[93] Between 2006 and 2010, Mexico’s one gun
shop sold 6,490 guns, [92] yet as of 2012,
Mexicans own about 15,000,000 guns, or
about 13.5 guns per 100 people. [44]
wrote “We analyzed the relationship between
homicide and gun availability using data from
26 developed countries from the early 1990s.
We found that across developed countries,
where guns are more available, there are more
homicides.” [46] According to a Mar. 2016
study, gun homicide rates in the United States
were 25.3 times higher and gun suicides were
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8 times higher in 2010 than in other populous,
high-income countries. Additionally, 90% of
women, 91% of 0- to 14-year olds, 92% of 15to 24-year-olds, and 82% of all people killed by
rearms were from the United States. [147]
Pro 14
The Second Amendment was intended
to protect the right of militias to own
guns, not the right of individuals.
Former Justice John Paul Stevens, JD, in his
dissenting opinion for District of Columbia et
al. v. Heller, wrote, “the Framer’s single-minded
focus in crafting the constitutional guarantee
‘to keep and bear arms’ was on military use of
rearms, which they viewed in the context of
service in state militias,” hence the inclusion of
the phrase “well regulated militia.” [3] Michael
Waldman, JD, President of the Brennan Center
for Justice at the New York University School
of Law, stated there is nothing about an
individual right to bear arms in the notes about
the Second Amendment when it was being
drafted, discussed, or rati ed; the US Supreme
Court declined to rule in favor of the individual
right four times between 1876 and 1939; and
all law articles on the Second Amendment
from 1888 to 1959 stated that an individual
right was not guaranteed. [47]
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Con 13
Gun control laws are racist.
Current gun control laws are frequently aimed
at inner city, poor, black communities who are
perceived as more dangerous than white gun
owners. [94][95] Charles Gallagher, MA, PhD, the
Chair of Sociology at LaSalle University, stated
that some gun control laws are still founded
on racial fears: “Whites walking down Main
Street with an AK-47 are defenders of
American values; a black man doing the same
thing is Public Enemy No. 1.” [96] In the late
1960s, gun control laws were enacted in
reaction to the militant, gun-carrying Black
Panthers. [97] Adam Winkler, MA, JD, UCLA
Constitutional Law Professor, stated “The KKK
began as a gun-control organization. Before
the Civil War, blacks were never allowed to
own guns” so, after the Civil War, there was
“constant pressure among white racists to
keep guns out of the hands of African
Americans because they would rise up and
revolt.” [97] In Virginia, in response to Nat
Turner’s Rebellion (also called the
Southampton Rebellion, in which slaves killed
55 to 65 people in the most fatal slave
uprising in the United States) in 1831, a law
was passed that prohibited free black people
“to keep or carry any relock of any kind, any
military weapon, or any powder or lead and all
laws allowing free black people to possess
rearms were repealed. [98].
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Pro 15
Con 14
Civilians, including hunters, should not
own military-grade rearms or rearm
accessories.
The Second Amendment was intended
to protect gun ownership of all ablebodied men so that they could
participate in the militia to keep the
peace and defend the country if
needed.
President Ronald Reagan and others did not
think the AR-15 military ri e (also called M16s
by the Air Force) should be owned by civilians
and, when the AR-15 was included in the
assault weapons ban of 1994 (which expired
on Sep. 13, 2004), the NRA supported the
legislation. [48] The Second Amendment was
According to the United States Code, a “militia”
is composed of all “able-bodied males at least
17 years of age… under 45 years of age who
are, or who have made a declaration of
written at a time when the most common
arms were long ri es that had to be reloaded
after every shot. Civilians today have access
to folding, detaching, or telescoping stocks
that make the guns more easily concealed and
carried; silencers to mu e gunshot sounds;
ash suppressors to re in low-light conditions
intention to become citizens of the United
States and of female citizens of the United
States who are members of the National
Guard.” [99] Therefore, the militia mentioned in
the Second Amendment would have been
composed of almost all adult men and, in turn,
that most adult men should not have their
without being blinded by the ash and to
conceal the shooter’s location; or grenade
launcher attachments. [49] Jonathan Lowy,
Director of Legal Action Project at the Brady
Center to Prevent Gun Violence, stated, “These
are weapons that will shred your venison
before you eat it, or go through the walls of
right to own rearms infringed. [100] A 1792
federal law required that every man eligible for
militia service own a gun and ammunition
suitable for military service, report for frequent
inspection of their guns, and register their gun
ownership on public records. [101] Daniel J.
Schultz, lawyer, stated, “the Framers [of the
your apartment when you’re trying to defend
yourself… [they are] made for mass killing, but
not useful for law-abiding citizens.” [50]
Constitution and Bill of Rights] understood
that ‘well-regulated’ militias, that is, armed
citizens, ready to form militias that would be
well trained, self-regulated and disciplined
would post no threat to their fellow citizens,
but would, indeed, help to ‘insure domestic
Tranquility’ and ‘provide for the common
defence.'” [100]
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Con 15
Gun control efforts have proved
ineffective.
According to David Lampo, Publications
Director of the Cato Institute, “there is no
correlation between waiting periods and
murder or robbery rates.” [102] Banning highcapacity magazines will not necessarily deter
crime because even small gun magazines can
be changed in seconds.The “gun show
loophole” is virtually nonexistent because
commercial dealers, who sell the majority of
guns at shows and elsewhere, are bound by
strict federal laws. [102] According to a Mar. 10,
2016 Lancet study, most state-level gun
control laws do not reduce rearm death rates,
and, of 25 state laws, nine were associated
with higher gun death rates. [148]
Did You Know?
1. A Pew Foundation report found that 79% of male gun owners and 80% of female gun
owners said owning a gun made them feel safer, and 64% of people living in a home in which
someone else owns a gun felt safer. [58]
2. The US General Accountability O ce (GAO) estimated that 100% of deaths per year in which
a child under 6 years old shoots and kills him/herself or another child could be prevented by
automatic child-proof safety locks. [35]
3. The Centers for Disease Control listed rearms as the #12 cause of all deaths between
1999 and 2015, representing 1.3% of total deaths. They were also the #1 method of death by
homicide (67.3% of all homicides) and by suicide (51.9% of all suicides). [4]
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Did You Know?
4. Mexico has some of the strictest gun control laws in the world and yet, in 2012, Mexico had
11,309 gun murders (9.97 gun homicides per 100,000 people) compared to the United States
that had 9,146 gun homicides (2.97 per 100,000 people). [88] [89]
5. Carrying a concealed handgun in public has been permitted in all 50 states since 2013,
when Illinois became the last state to enact concealed carry legislation. [101]
6. Five women a day are killed by guns in America. A woman's risk of being murdered
increases 500% if a gun is present during a domestic dispute. [10] [11]
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People who view this page may also like:
1. International Civilian Gun Ownership Rates
2. Leading Causes of Suicide, Homicide, and Unintentional Death
3. Concealed Guns
Popular in the Community
Conversation
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What do you think?
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ChiefCrash
12 February, 2020
Gun control's fundamental problem is that it tries to deal with "gun violence" as if it's a
separate and unique phenomenon. But it's not: it's simply violence that happened to include
a gun. By focusing on the gun aspect of the problem, your best-case-scenario will still include
violence. Yet if we focused on the violence aspect instead, we wouldn't have to worry about
the guns...
Next time someone compares the USA's "gun homicide" rate to other European countries, try
something: look at the USA's *non-gun* murder rate, and compare that to Europe's *overall*
murder rate. As it turns out, even if we magically erased all guns (and the crimes that went
with them), we'd still be more than twice as homicidal than Europe. It's not a gun problem.
It's a violence problem that happens to include guns.
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Freeking
ChiefCrash
15 January, 2021
Excellent points.
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Grimreaper
7
ChiefCrash
9 December, 2020
I agree with you.
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Josh
30 October, 2020
Let's be real guys, Saying that "Guns kill" or "Guns make violence happen" is not appropriate.
It is the same thing as saying "a spoon made me fat" I agree that guns should require more
security to purchase but not ban them completely. What would you do if guns were banned
and you need to defend your family. Guns may have the purpose of killing, But would you kill
the person who wants to kill you in your own defence? as i said before, Guns don't kill it's the
person wielding it that can make a decision to take a life, that explains that people are the
problem, even if they ban guns, what do you think is going to happen, the killers and criminals
will come with knives and blades. then what, are you going to say that Knives need to be
banned to, Come on guys, Think about it really hard (Edited)
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onlyfacts
Josh
2 days ago
You say its the people who make the decision to take a life, not a guns decision, but that is
the exact reason guns should be banned, or at least why there should be more restrictions
on guns. Guns turn killers into killing machines. It is because people are disgusting and like
to kill is the reason we need to take action. (Edited)
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smartguy
Josh
18 March, 2021
crinimals wouldn't listen to ban
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rembug1070
10 November, 2020
This argument was titled "Should more gun control laws be enacted?" not "Should all guns be
banned?". Nobody is trying to take all your guns away but I can con dently say that there are
some guns that should not be owned by civilians and stricter background checks need to be
enforced. The gun does not have a mind of it's own but we're going to allow people with
mental issues carry re arms?? Not to mention, the second amendment was written 229 years
ago so the fact that some people think it's in no need of revision taking into account the needs
of our citizens in the present day is bonkers... In my personal opinion, the ability to own a gun
should still be a constitutional right but stricter gun laws regarding the mental state the
individual is in.
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Josh
rembug1070
2 days ago
You are absolutely right, but people want to change that, and unfortunately people can
vote to add a amendment that will cancel it out, but if you read, some shootings, for this
instance the columbine massacre, the police could not nd anything mentally unstable
and/or anger issues and other things that would have caused both perpetrators to commit
it
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JohnMicheal
rembug1070
25 February, 2021
I literally couldn't agree more.
Reply
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Andrew Holt
26 February, 2020
Take away guns from the citizens of this country and ask yourself what’s next . Moral fabric of
ourselves needs work to love each other as Jesus would have . Evil will never be conquered
when division amongst us continues . Better background procedures along with better
educating our children what is right and wrong would go along way towards less pain . I do
not want a controlled state authority. We as individuals should be in faith . Love thy neighbor.
Protect thy family .
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Gdity
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Andrew Holt
2 October, 2020
but when your neighbors are shooting each other what then? you can take classes to
protect yourself with martial arts CITIZENS WE DON'T NEED GUNS all they do is hurt that's
all there is to them you can love without guns you can be safe without guns let the proper
authorities handle bad people god is heartbroken when you take the life of anyone he
loves everyone even evil people so don't kill
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Arick Beaird
Andrew Holt
29 February, 2020
I agree
Reply
14
45
Arick Beaird
12 February, 2020
Sometimes guns are used for evil but guns are also used for enforcement and self defense
and much more if we take guns away we take those away too
Reply
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I HAVE FURRY FRIENDS!!!! I am a neko.
Arick Beaird
5 March, 2020
Yep, I say take the guns from the evil
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D
dnxt
15 January, 2021
The criminals buy them o the black market tho. If you limit guns from law abiding citizens we
wont be able to defend ourselves from illegal threats.
Reply
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Arick Beaird
12 February, 2020
a gun is as good or bad as the person who holds it (Edited)
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onlyfacts
Arick Beaird
2 days ago
But the problem is there are too many bad people.
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1
smartguy
Arick Beaird
17 March, 2021
sooooooo true
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2
5
smartguy
17 March, 2021
criminals don't care about laws so why would they listen to gun control?
They would not.Taking guns from people takes away from our self defense.
Reply
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onlyfacts
smartguy
2 days ago
Bro no o ense but according to statistics for every 1 justi able shooting where someone
used a gun for self defense, 35 people used a gun for criminal use so guns are rarely used
for self defense lol.
Reply
MyGuy
1
smartguy
22 March, 2021
People that are criminals would have guns and we wouldn't, they would get them by the
dark market/web or gangs. If we had knives and they had guns we would get instantly shot
but if we had guns we could easily defend ourselves.
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Jonathan
9 April, 2020
pretty much in all shootings the guns are not registered. The only thing that is harmful is the
person behind the gun willing to shoot it. People shouldn’t be able to take away guns when
cops can’t always get there when you want them.guns are also used for self defense. Plus if
we did take away guns illegal aliens could walk right into our country from Canada the coast
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and several other places without getting caught and if there was no weapons to protect you
the death rate from guns would be a lot bigger than now. Let’s take a look at Britain, citizens
and police enforcements from Britain are not allowed to own guns, the problems in their
situation are not anymore better. Possibly worse. I get that people die from shootings that’s
awful . . . Truly devastating. But if we take away guns from law abiding citizens what will they
be able to protect themselves with? Their sts? Against a gun, really? Think about that.
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RYLAN ZUHLSDORF
Jonathan
7 April, 2021
yea, and if a war broke out we would be defencles if they invaded
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Angusmc fe
14 January, 2020
Most people who oppose guns are those who do not have a shred
of knowledge about guns. An AR15 5.56 hollow point round is less lethal than a hunting ri e's
30.06 hollow point round which can take down a 300lb animal in a single shot
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onlyfacts
Angusmc fe
2 days ago
It also really doesn't matter how powerful the gun is if it can still harm/kill people. Not only
that but why do civilians even need ar15's if they are using it for "SeLF dEfeNse" like stop
capping. why do civilians need military grade weapons that are used for mowing down
many people at a time?
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Cade Roberts
Angusmc fe
1 March, 2021
And in your case you should probably have a gun if you are going to use it for hunting and
are mentally able to have one then either gun is ne.
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